Education
Ph.D. |Seoul National University | Politics
Ph.D.(cand.) |Fuller Theological Seminary |Theology
M.D. | Seoul National University |Medicine
Bio
Deeply resonating with Immanuel Wallerstein(1996)’s lament over the rift between the humanities and social sciences, he is an exceptionally rare scholar who pursues integrative research, holding a triple doctorate in medicine, theology, and politics. His broad interdisciplinary scope spans history, philosophy, anthropology, and Arabic studies, all grounded in a macro-level insight into history and human civilization as a whole.
Drawing particularly upon Bernard Lewis(2002)’s thesis on the historical rivalry between European and Middle Eastern empires and civilizations, his work focuses on the global expansion of the European world-system and how it has hybridized within various regions. His historical and civilizational theory aims to develop his own unique framework of "Imperiology," further advancing the distinct concepts of "Empire" proposed by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri(2000).
Concurrently an NGO activist in the Middle East for decades, he is a scholar who deeply values bridging theory with field practice. To embody this philosophy, he recently founded Arche University in California, USA, where he currently serves as its inaugural president.
Notes
Immanuel Wallerstein et al., Open the Social Sciences: Report of the Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996.
Bernard Lewis. What Went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri. Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000.